Four Mainstream System Cases from AeroCool, Enermax, NZXT and Scythe. Page 9

Today we are going to talk about four system cases of the most popular type: mainstream price range. We will talk not only about solutions with classical design that stood the test of time, but also about a few truly unique products. Among our testing participants are AeroCool Syclone, Enermax Phoenix Neo, NZXT Beta EVO and Scythe Fenris Wolf.

Test Results

First, let’s view the results for each system case and check out the cooling of HDDs depending on their position. The HDDs are numbered from top to bottom in each system case.

AeroCool Syclone

Even with its two fans, the AeroCool Syclone is not really good at cooling. The graphics card is very hot under load and the HDDs located right behind the fan do not feel comfortable. One of the HDDs is as hot as 50°C, which is dangerous. The topmost HDD, located in another bay, is obviously not cooled properly, too. It looks like the air flow from the front fan is not strong enough due to the resistance of the front-panel elements and the HDD rack on its way.

It is all right in terms of noise, though. The fans are almost silent and there are no foreign sounds at all. On the other hand, I would gladly improve cooling by increasing the speed of the fans at the expense of silence.

Enermax Phoenix Neo min in

I first tested the Enermax Phoenix Neo when its side fan was working at its minimum speed, sucking the air into the chassis. The result is good: the HDDs are cooled properly and the rest of the components feel all right, too.

Enermax Phoenix Neo max in

When the fan speed is increased to its maximum, the graphics card temperature lowers while the CPU and mainboard remain as hot as before. The HDDs are hotter in this mode as they don’t get any of the air flow, being located in a blank corner of the chassis.

Enermax Phoenix Neo max out

Enermax Phoenix Neo min out

Next, I lowered the fan speed to its minimum and changed the direction of the air flow of the big fan so that it was pumping the air out of the chassis. The picture changes to the opposite as the result: the HDDs are cooled perfectly while the graphics card temperature is considerably higher now.

Interestingly, increasing the fan speed to the maximum has but a very small effect on the temperatures in this mode.

Enermax Phoenix Neo off

And when the fan is turned off altogether, all the components get hotter than before.

As for the noise factor, the 120mm fan at the back panel is virtually silent. The side-panel 250mm fan is producing a soft hiss of the air at minimum speed but becomes audible at maximum speed.

It’s up to you to decide what variant is better but I’d prefer the side fan to pump the air out of the chassis at minimum speed.

NXZT Beta EVO min

The NXZT Beta EVO copes well with the HDDs even at the minimum speed of the fan because the fan is located before the HDD rack. However, the temperature of the other components is rather high. The mainboard is 40°C hot, which is quite a lot for our configuration. This is the price you pay for the lack of a back-panel fan even though this system case is heavily perforated. One more fan would be most welcome here.

NXZT Beta EVO max

Increasing the fan speed helps lower the temperature of the HDDs. Alas, the air flow is still not strong enough to affect the other components while the fan gets much noisier. The system case was almost silent at minimum speed but at 1400 RPM the front-panel fan was humming distinctly. It is better to add a low-speed fan rather than to use the available one at full speed.

Scythe Fenris Wolf min

At the minimum speed of the fans you cannot hear them at all in the Scythe Fenris Wolf. The cooling is sufficient for the HDDs to feel comfortable even under load. The rest of the components do not show any signs of overheat, either. This is an example of a quiet and fast computer.

Scythe Fenris Wolf max

Even working at their maximum 800 RPM, the fans are barely audible. For most users the computer will still be silent as if the fan speed has not changed at all. The cooling is much better now for both the HDDs and the mainboard.

So I think that this system case is the best choice for assembling a quiet computer without any troubles. You only have to buy necessary components and install them. You won’t have to bother about the fans as you can leave them for the mainboard to control.